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From: http://www.kusn.org/links.html , i found that UKTKF is the UK branch of ITKF which can be found at http://www.itkf.org/ . Hope this helps.

Thats the way i look at it 2. Glad i had the chance to experience it.

Had my second and last night of boxing tonight The self defence seminar i attended on the weekend helped clear up a few conflicting thoughts about what direction i want my training to head in. And the session helped finalize my decision. Coach didnt offer me any of his time, he spent the whole session with his son who is training for an up-coming fight (which i completely understand, thats his priority) leaving me hitting the bag (which i can do at home). This may not happen every week, but with an increased fight schedule, his son will be requiring alot of his time in the near future. Plus boxing doesnt fit into my slightly re-evaluted training objectives, initially i thought it would help, but there are other areas that require more attention. 2 nights.. it was fun.

Ofcourse a basic idea helps, but those average skills that might save you also just might get you hurt or killed.

Ideally that would be the case, but it rarely is. Self defence is something that unless specifically addressed, skills gained in it by doing general martial arts, will be average at best.

I think that these two should be synonomous. I agree that they may have some seperate nuances, but survivng a battle should relate to the individual as well as the group level. Im not sure i exactly understand, but if you are saying that martial arts and self defence should be one in the same(?).... Unfortunatly in these days they are most often worlds apart.

how is it that karate exists at all today as a martial art, when prior to Master Funakoshi's introduction of kumite karate was learned and practised by kata alone? If the martial artists of old, were able to defend themselves successfully and if expressions like 'if you choose to land a karate blow then be in no doubt that that one blow decides everything' (Master Funakoshi) mean anything, There is a huge difference between being a good fighter and being able to defend yourself(there are some areas that overlap in both, but still a large number of differences). Karate has moved so far away from its combative roots, look at the heavily technique based syllabus of most schools these days. The focus is being good at the techniques and learning lots of kata so you become good at karate. This doesnt always mean you will be a good fighter, or be able to defend yourself effectively, but you certainly will get good at doing karate. Karate still exists because there is a market for it, people want to do traditional arts with that associated "mysticism". It doesnt exist because of its combat effectivness (when has it been tested and proved in recent times outside point based competition?). Whilst there are still some schools out there that focus on karate for self defence, the majority have made a transition to the "way of life" type training, the only thing most have not done is remove the "learn effective self defence" tag from thier advertisments. You are right, kata may well be an integral part of "martial arts" training, but is not an integral part of "self defence" training. If kata works for you, then do it. If it doesnt, find something better. And for those wondering if kata, or their training in general is good for self defence... Have a look around the internet at some clips of real fights, muggings etc (there are loads of clips out there) and ask yourself if the things you see look anything at all like what you do in training. If it doesnt, perhaps your training needs to take a few steps towards reality.

Got home this afternoon, seminars were excillent. Covered alot of aspects of self defence situations including awareness, de-escalation, use of the passive stance, static and dynamic weapon defence, multiple attackers, emotional invocation drills, how to correctly run scenario replications, using the shredder and more. Richard Dimitri has a way of presenting his material that is indescribable, the passion he displays towards the information is amazing and i highly recommend anyone who has the chance to train with him, or one of his affiliates to not pass up the opportunity to do so. All in all it was an awsome set of seminars, excillent training, met some really nice people, and a good weekend all round.

If you have the time and inclination to pick up another art then i say go for it. The human body is pretty smart, and im sure you will naturally get into the mindset of each art you are training at the time which should take care of any confusion between arts. Also you may want to consider kickboxing or muay thai for some added kicking skill. Let us know how it goes.

At this stage it was pretty basic(although i dont see that has being a problem, and its probably the reason why boxing footwork is so effective), but we focused on correctly moving forward, backwards, circling in both directions, throwing the jab while moving each way (strike with footwork), always returning to the correct fighting position after each movement.

Had my first session this arvo. Was great, really broke down the techniques and only worked footwork and the jab. Looking forward to next time.

Any examples? I agree, simplicity is the key, and i personally find that kata is not the best way to maintain that simplicity in your training.

Hey everyone, Tommorow morning im flying to Sydney to attend the Richard Dimitri Senshido seminars. Its 4 days of training with one of the best self defence instructors around at the moment. The days will go something like this: Friday: Shredder seminar. Saturday: Senshido Enhancer part 1. Sunday: Senshido Enhancer part 2. Monday: Get Real seminar (well know to involve high energy scenario replications. One involves turning off the lights, turning on the smoke machine, strobe light and loud music and then playing out a no consent self defence situation.) Also happens to be my birthday so ill be in the right place for birthday punches . Cant wait to get into the training, will post how it goes when i get back.

Agreed, the first thing you should do is leave the scene. If you are forced to defend yourself and cause enough damage to a person that they require medical assistance, there should be a good reason for it(immediate danger to your life, family etc). If you feel the need to help them out, call an ambulance when you are far enough away from danger. From a legal point of view your not doing yourself any favours by sticking around to give a statment to the police. Shortly after the situation you are likely to be suffering from a number of adrenaline induced symptoms. These range can include light headedness, time distortion, memory lapse, vomiting, the urge to talk lots. None of these things are going to help you in making an accurate or objective statment to the cops. A few months later when court day arrives your whole argument is going to rely on the statement, now you have had time to remember certain things about what happened and how the situation really went down the original statment doesnt seem so accurate anymore. So to run or stay? Only you can make the call based on the situation, but keep in mind that while it may seem honourable to stay and help a person even after they have attacked you, its probably not in your best interest. You are more likely to spend the night in jail if the cops show up, more likely to be seen by the attackers friends(leaving room for revenge attacks) and less likely to be removing yourself from immediate danger.

How often when sparring someone do you execute a punch the same way you do it in kata?

Spoke with the trainer again today and he will allow me to train even though i dont wish to compete. Im glad he is making an exception for me and cant wait to start training.

If doing both isnt an option because you dont have the time or whatever, i would say go with the shootfighting. Especially since your goal is self defence. From what i have heard of John Will's stuff the shootfighting is geared towards self defence (but you would know better than me, after all you train there). Im sure John would include self defence aspects in both classes, but imo you would be more well rounded by doing the shootfighting.

Definetly, i think anger, like any other emotion, can be healthy if you understand it and use it in a positive way and dont let it become a destructive force in your life.

Nice post.

Well said bushido_man96.

Why is that such a problem? How many times recently would it have been truely beneficial for you to be able to punch hard? The reason i ask these questions is because you could spend all the time in the world "strengthening" your knuckles, trying to punch harder, but how much use will it really be for you? Maybe its really important and you have a great reason for doing it, im not trying to judge, just asking the question. Your knuckles will only get so "strong", there will always be a part of the human body you will hit thats going to be harder than you knuckles and damage them. Not to mention if you do it wrong, when you reach old age you will have more trouble than most with dexterity and may suffer from arthritis that might have been avoided if you didnt spend so much time trying to hone a skill that may not even be of use to you in your life. Just some thoughts.

There are much better ways to build muscle in the legs, stance training will do it, to a point, but then resistance is required. Sparring is the only thing that comes close to "real situations" in most schools (alot of the sparring that goes on doesnt comes close to reality but..) so doing a long stance during this crucial part of training just so you might gain some leg strength is a little odd IMO. Thats not something id count on.

It depends what your goals are. Have you clearly defined what you actually want to get out of training? If its just a 2nd degree belt you want, then keep training at your current school, make up the weapon forms and do whats required.. But how much do you think the rank is really worth if thats how you gain it?

Heh, good point. Kind of takes the "passive" out of the stance, doesn't it? Another option along with the passive stance would be to back up, if you have room. Has i mentioned previously, its not a "stance" in the traditional sense of the word. Meaning its not static, or fixed. Standing still infront of the aggressor with your hands up is a rather poor execution of the passive stance. (although sometimes you have no other option if your pinned to a wall etc) Understanding the dynamics of violence will give you alot of information about what is and isnt applicable. The passive stance is most often used in conjuction with slow slightly rearward, circling footwork. Circling to whatever side will avoid their power side (if you have the opertunity to see which one that is). How often do you think someone with aggressive intent towards you will stand still talking to you at a certain distance? They might if you allow it, but by moving backwards yourself, they have 2 choices: 1. leave you alone. or. 2. Keep moving forward to pester/attack you. If they are moving forward then obviously your de escalation tactics arnt working for you at this point, so either you start saying things that help the situation, or expect to be attacked. This is when the passive "stance" is used at its best.